Secret of the episode: Yutaka is actually a ghost, and Saya is the only one who can see him

Time for the date! Yes, they didn’t make us wait for the final episode to see Lucy and Yutaka’s date, so how did it go? And can Megumi finally get through to Taishi? Could I write this introduction every week? I think I probably could and it wouldn’t be too far off.

Chihaya Works Too Hard

Who is she going to get to wear all of these?

Megumi’s definitely up on the current season of anime, isn’t she? I think everyone enjoyed seeing the costumes she had hanging up (from Railgun, Monogatari, Titan, and Prisma Illya. You’d even say Menma’s dress was current, since the movie was this summer). And she got Lucy’s dress finished too, just in time for her date with Yutaka. But along with the dress, she’s got some worries to plant in Lucy’s head about Yutaka. At this point, I really don’t know if it’s just that Yutaka’s first impression has sabotaged him so far, or if he’s actually done enough to change that opinion except among only the most clueless (Lucy) or stubborn (Megumi, or perhaps she’s jealous?). It’s not that Megumi’s advice is bad, per se. Lucy should pay more attention to Yutaka, really see what he is like, not just the way she thinks he is. Plus, how will he react to the dress she wears?

Finally Time for a Date

What a considerate guy

And it really is a cute dress that Lucy ends up in. A nice summery look, with a light jacket on her shoulders and contacts to top it off, so she really looks cute, even if Yutaka gives her a hard time with some fashion glasses. But if Lucy’s looking for evidence about the ‘real’ Yutaka, she doesn’t have to look far. From having a date planned out that’s all about things she’d like – a small used bookstore and a nice cafe – to being a really considerate guy by holding her things, walking at her pace (slower than usual because of her unfamiliarity with heels), and guiding her around trouble, he’s really scoring high on the boyfriend-meter. In fact, despite having almost the same look as Taishi, Yutaka is almost the complete opposite in caring for his girl. Taishi, get some lessons from your kouhai!

One of those moves you wish you had, and you’re glad you don’t use

But with all that niceness, Lucy freaks out a little. It’s just hard for her to accept someone being nice to her, and she still thinks that Yutaka’s a smooth guy with the ladies. I think back on it, and we know that Yutaka’s never had a girlfriend, or even asked a girl out. But has Lucy ever heard that? I don’t think she has, just Saya. So she (and Megumi) still thinks he’s charai and is wary of him. And I gotta admit, he’s got some smooth moves (although bordering on the edge of being a pedo) when he gets Lucy to offer her hand for him to hold with the (false) promise of candy. But what he really wants is to talk seriously about the two of them. Too bad they’re interrupted by Kaoru, who cuts their date short by asking him to come meet her fiance (against her will, it has to be said). But it doesn’t end without Lucy freely promising another date, and not like Saya’s resigned promise to Jyouji, but a happy one.

Meanwhile, Back at the Other Couple…

Now is NOT the time to hope she falls asleep! 10 minutes from now! 10 minutes!

Besides Megumi’s role in ‘helping’ Lucy, she’s also trying to deal with her own relationship with Taishi. I can’t decide if the biggest problem is that Taishi is terrible at picking up signs (like, he makes ME look like Mr. Observant in my remembrances of dating… and being married) or that he’s not actually a guy. He’s like the anti-Hyoudou Issei: Never ever thinking of making a move on her. Thankfully, he didn’t miss completely the “Please be concerned about me and do the opposite of the words I’m saying” signs from Megumi to not interrupt her clothes making, but to manage it, he throws Yutaka under the Tohko bus, plus goes to visit when “she won’t have the energy to chase me away”. How beta can you be, Taishi? Plus, when she tries to initiate some lovemaking, he wants her to fall asleep! Dude, you’re making all guys look bad!

But despite this, there are still some things that Megumi really likes about him. For one, he really is a caring person. If only he could mix the two. It is possible to be that caring boyfriend, and still be a bit selfish ~and~ responsive to the other person’s selfishness. That’s what I think a great relationship is: Making the demands that the other person will give in to freely, and giving in freely to the other person’s reasonable demands. This doesn’t mean you can’t push limits in places, but if you know the answer is going to be a flat out ‘no’, don’t ask. But in the case of Megumi and Taishi, the answer should be ‘yes’. And that it’s not yes is a problem. And even worse is that Taishi knows it’s a problem, but doesn’t change his answers. Mendokusai…

So When’s the Next Date?

You’d have thought that Yutaka would be on cloud nine after getting a second date with Lucy, but instead he’s too reserved at work. Making the same mistake 5 times, not really paying attention, not even slacking off! I like Megumi’s direct way of dealing with it: Just drag him into the meeting room to find out what is up. And so we finally get to the worst-kept secret of this series: the person that Lucy has a grudge against, her driving force for becoming a civil servant, is Yutaka’s father. And while we’re all used to the idea, what would Lucy think about it? She’s held onto the fact that her name is a problem for so long, using it as an excuse for everything, and she’s never really had an idea of what she would do with the person when she found them. Would she hold it against Yutaka? And how did he find out anyway? Did Kaoru bring her up when Yutaka got there? It would be even worse if Lucy was a family joke, the girl who had a horrible name (and horrible parents).

Bonus Full-Length Lucy!

One more episode to go, and hopefully we’ll get some significant progress in the Megumi x Taishi couple. I don’t know why, but I find those two as interesting as the Lucy x Yutaka couple. Perhaps it’s the “boy, I’m glad I don’t make THAT many mistakes” factor, or the fact that I really like Megumi’s character, but it would be nice if they had progress. And I’m sure we’ll get at least a little look at Lucy’s reaction to Yutaka’s bad news. I’ve really enjoyed this series, and I do hope that it gets a second series, since they’ve done really well keeping it interesting through this first one. I remember being worried that it would run out of jokes, but even without milking the relationship pairs dry, it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

7 Responses to “Servant x Service – 12”

One of the the things we keep in mind as these couples start to deepen the respective relationships. This is a comedy, so the unexpected errors will creep up….at any given time and for any given reason. We have to keep laughing. Now, it takes a rare series to get the balance right; or else it’s laughing as they fall down open man-holes. (get your mind out of the gutter….HWY could tell you about proper man-hole maintenance….get your minds out of the gutter)

I want a Lucy of my own. My goodness she is a sweety. Well, a little dense, but people can grow out of these things.

Yes, I thought this show did much better with the relationship comedy than Working!! did, to use the usual comparison. And a lot of that was that it could: not high school kids but normal adults. People will accept more weirdness with the high school kids, so you need to be more out there to generate laughs. So this series didn’t have to go wacky, it didn’t have to go for pratfalls (falling in a manhole once is uncomfortably funny, more than that is just British torture comedy). It could just show normal people being just a little mismatched. And really, it is just a little. Lucy x Yutaka is almost a perfect couple. Taishi x Megumi is a very good couple. These characters work together, I can see where the attraction is. But the slight mismatch works as well.

The one thing this show deserves praise for is its ability to create relationships you can’t sniff at because those involved bounce off each other nicely. Lucy looked nice in that dress and without glasses. However, I feel like I’ve seen that dress somewhere else. Damn you, Ichimiya! How can you let your subordinate smoke you in the dating game when you’ve been in it longer than he has?

Props to Chihaya’s line of costumes. Monogatari, Shingeki no Kyojin and Prisma Illya dresses. I guess she’s been following Summer animes just like the rest of us. I wonder if other anime studios are aware of easter eggs like that. The best was the Attack on Titan costume. She’s definitely paying tribute to Mikasa.

I totally understand why Hasebe is out of whack wrecking his one routine. I’d be in despair if a family of mine was responsible for something as embarrassing as approving a ridiculously long name for an infant. But for that kid to turn out to be the girl I’m dating? Lord have mercy on me! And Chihaya’s emotionless mocking is salt being added to an already huge wound.

That’s something I didn’t really think of. Hasebe-san could be extremely embarrassed that he allowed something like that. And what is Lucy’s reaction if he is? How does she deal with someone who is contrite about her circumstances? That’s an interesting twist, and we’ll see if it goes with that.

I don’t know, Megumi could also pull off Sasha or even Hanji without much trouble.

That right there might be the key to Servant x Service: The characters are supremely relatable. Like I replied to skylion, they didn’t have to flanderize any of the characters to make them funny, and that has the added benefit of making them people that we can understand, people in which we can see reflections of ourselves. So I can see myself making girlfriend blunders like Taishi. You can see yourself panicking on a date like Lucy. Someone else could see their inability to deal with the girl they love like Yutaka, or their frustration at getting their koibito (a word I think is a great construction and flexible meaning) to be more like they want them to be like Megumi.

I almost died. So much kawaii in this episode. The date turned out great as expected.

Father Hasebe being the culprit to Lucy’s name misfortune wasn’t a surprise. I don’t think Lucy is going to hate Yutaka for his father’s mistake but who knows. I don’t think they can drag it out given there’s one more episode.

Now all that’s left is the other couple to succeed. I feel sad for Megumi for pushing on Lucy despite her opinions on Yutaka and her envy due to the lack of Ichimiya’s balls. At least that bitch Touko is open-minded enough to accept that she has to stop being clingy.

Can’t wait for the final episode. It’s been fun this show and I’m kinda sad seeing it end.